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we need to slow down and get it right. like mom used to say, you rush and you make mistakes. >> democrats are going to continue in their head-long rush to pass a government takeover of health care. >> from where i stand and frankly many republican senators stand who are troubled by the pace is of concern. >> we should have had more time to digest it. >> i guess history has a funny way of repeating itself. >> what a difference eight years doesn't make. republicans today sounding a lot like republicans back in 2009 on health care reform. only this time, they are battling themselves. can president trump and house speaker paul ryan bring their own party on board? this as one new report says at least 15 million people, joe, will lose their health care coverage under the new gop plan. this morning, we are going to speak live with the u.s. secretary of health and human services dr. tom price.

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plus, the man responsible for whipping votes in the house, republican congressman steve scalise and congressman tim ryan on the democrats game plan. good morning, everyone. it's friday! it's friday, march 10th. with us senior political analyst for nbc news and msnbc mark halpern. political analyst john heilemann. and mark and john have big news to announce and get to that in a moment. congratulations. we love it. joe, you're down in washington for some meetings but you couldn't make it back up because of the weather. did you see the little girl? speaking of the weather. we will explain this to you. >> oh! >> we will have that. bill karins will talk about the incredible wind and rough weather across the country j new a moment! she is okay. she's okay. but before we dive into new. joe, what is your take in washington? you had meetings yesterday on where things stand across the board. >> two big takeaways. one, everybody is questioning

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why the house did what they did, why they handled health care the way they did. the senators, tom cotton is right. so many senators believing they made a mistake by repeating the mistakes of the democrats in 2009, rushing into this. and the concerns also being whispered in the white house. really surprised that the house gop team didn't have everybody together, that they didn't have the freedom caucus on board. and that they were blindsided the way they were. so a lot of surprise on that respect. on another sort of theme we keep talking about, there is absolutely no evidence as john podhoretz said that anybody who supported donald trump the day of his election does not support him today.

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in fact, people in the business community are even bigger supporters and more excited about what they believe is going to be sort of financial regulatory and tax relief that they have needed for quite sometime. and, mika, over the past year and a half, you and i ran across a lot of people who were afraid to admit it and they are not afraid to admit it now. they are more in donald trump's camp business community than ever before. >> all right. we will talk more about that coming up. first, fbi director james comey was on capitol hill yesterday where a congressional source says he met with lawmakers to discuss the alleged wiretapping of trump tower. comey met with the leadership and top ranking members of the intelligence committees on the senate side, as well as in the house. but despite sources saying he pushed the justice department to make a public denial he was tight-lipped when approached by nbc's kasie hunt. >> are there any people wiretapped in trump tower?

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>> before his meeting with director comey, republican senate majority leader mitch mcconnell put distance between himself and trpresident trump's allegations. >> do you believe that barack obama wiretapped trump tower? >> there's no evidence of that. i've not heard of it before, but that is an appropriate subject for the senate intelligence committee to take a look at and they are looking at whatever the russians were doing during the election. >> reporter: joe, does there need to be a complete investigation, the senate intelligence committee looking into? overall the russia issue but on the wiretapping issue? >> what the white house says they want to do. it allows people like mitch

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mcconnell who know it's not true i have to evidence of it but do an investigation. i thought the best part of that interview yesterday, willie, we haven't played yet when they asked mitch mcconnell, is mexico going to pay for the fall? he goes, ah h, no. he is emerging early as one of our favorites in answering the questions. he is not going to be cow tow to some of the republicans. >> as you said on the first part of it the about comey visit. so much of this is theater. you say mitch mcconnell knows that the president of the united states did not wiretap trump tower. all of these congressmen and senators know it's an easy phone call to make and easy answer to get. now they are going through the

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for maladi forities to wait for the official process to play out. we spend one week on this that last saturday morning tweeted this this is a waste of time for the country. we should be getting into the health care bill and focus on important things. the fact this has occupied so much time and space looking into an allegation that patently is untrue if you ask anybody who knows, is a waste of time for the country. >> mark halpern, though, i think it's an interesting conundrum for the media because i think we move on so much and it's, at some point we have to focus on that and get and answer. so many shiny pennies across the table here we could move on into oblivion. >> i found when i was in washington and joe found is the business community has really compartmentalized. they are just not focused on things like the president's twitter feed. they are focused on the legislative agenda and on the calendar. mitch mcconnell kind of some

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days compartmentalizes and some days does not. i think make or break here is health care and you're seeing them adjust to the question of could they get the house this passed through the house quickly? they still think they can but is it a good idea? should they slow down for the sake of the long-term health and prospects of getting it through the senate? >> the question you've been putting on the table for weeks now, joe. >> yeah. nobody is going to convince me this is a smart move. they should start with tax reform, they should start with regulatory reform. mark halpern, i don't think we can underline enough to people in the media that haven't spoken to the business community or people who are marching in the streets or people who are supporting. if you want to get into donald trump's approval ratings, you're going to have to convince a business community that they should be concerned about the tweets, they should be concerned about the bizarre statements, they should be concerned about all of the things that a lot of

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people in washington -- in the washington and new york bubble are concerned about, and a lot of americans across the country are concerned about. they are just not. in fact, it is shocking just how little they care about anything other than regulatory reform and tax reform. they have completely compartmentalized everything else. and i just say this. i am just reporting -- by the way, people that own the media companies that have people that are going around and we are all talking about how shocked and stunned we are at donald trump's lack of respect for constitutional values and presidential traditions. the business people that run the media companies are, obviously, thinking the same thing because i've yet to meet a business person that is not thrilled he is president of the united states. >> joe, we should say this extends not just to republican

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business people. >> oh, no! >> but democrats in washington, in new york. a lot of the washington lobbying operations for major firms are run by democrats who are still in their jobs placed there during the obama years, and they are compartmentalized and their focus is on regulatory reform and tax reform and not just jockeying for favorable outcomes but enthusiastic for their companies. >> it's shocking, mika. last year, when we talked to people and ask who is supporting trump and no one would admit it and come whisper is to us later on. >> yeah. >> that's not how it is in 2017. they will tell you right up front, a lot of great things are about to happen. it's kind of surreal. is really is. >> it's not surprising that, you know, the business community with the prospects of tax reform, the prospects of an administration doesn't care very much about budget deficits and run an inflationary fiscal policy and regulatory reform and

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tearing down obamacare. it doesn't surprise me that both the stock market and the business community are where they are. they are beyond the tweets. there are realities that are still playing out here especially on the russia front as the story, not the distractions but the actual, as progress occurs and as we learn more day-by-day, that is still a story that the business community may be a lagging indicator on that. if that story ends up progressing and doing fundamental political damage to the administration, the business community will eventually look up and say, okay, we have a problem here. for now their focus compartmentalized way and what affects our bottom line and for now good for them but the reality may catch up to that. >> the one caveat i would throw in, mika, i've talked to the head of a large multinational corporation yesterday and the head of a small american-based business who both said this talk of tariffs and protectionism scares the hell out of them and border tax is something they think would be devastating especially to a small company to

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their bottom line because so much of what they have to make comes from out of the country and if there are tariffs those prices will be passed on to sxurmeds. that i consumers. >> there is a big picture and long-term consequences to some of the things that have happened in this administration so far. the vice president has weighed in on the revelation that former national security adviser michael flynn performed more than 500,000 dollars worth of lobbying for turkey before election day. flynn registered his work as a foreign agent in paper work filed with the justice department on tuesday, disclosing work performed from august through november 2016. here is press secretary sean spicer, followed by vice president mike pence, reacting to that news that they just learned, apparently, yesterday. >> was the president aware that lieutenant general michael flynn was acting as a foreign agent

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when he appointed him to be the national security adviser? >> i don't believe that that was known. i would refer you to general flynn and to the department of justice in terms of the filings that have been made. >> had the president had known that, would he have appointed him? >> i don't know, john. that is a hypothetical i'm not prepared to ask. >> let me say hearing that story today was the first i heard of it and i fully support the decision the president trump made to ask for general flynn's resignation. >> you're disappointed by the story? >> the first i heard of it and i think it is -- it is an affirmation of the president's decision to ask general flynn to resign. >> joe, what is your take? for me, it seems deeply concerning that they had no clue about this since flynn and trump spent day and many flights and

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nights together traveling on the campaign trail. this seems impossible. >> the fact that that man was a foreign agent of turkey, who has been hostile towards u.s. interests for a good part of the syrian civil war and was getting paid at the same time he was delivering a speech trashing hillary clinton at the republican national committee. >> saying lock her up. >> yeah. saying he was an agent of a foreign country of turkey throughout the inphases of the campaign, and even when donald trump got elected. it's shocking. i guess it shouldn't be shocking. this is the sort of thing that would not happen in past administrations, but there are -- apparently, everything goes ethically. by the way, i would like some clarification from the white

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house at some point. did donald trump fire michael flynn or did michael flynn resign? because if michael flynn resigned, donald trump acted angry and said a good man was hung. right wing websites are still saying that -- >> now he fired him. >> john heilemann, right wing websites are now going out and talking about and right wing columnists are talking about how michael flynn was set up and he had no due process, and he did nothing wrong. well, did he resign or did donald trump fire him? and if donald trump fired him, if these right wing websites are right, then why is he such a weak president and why did he fold the things that aren't true? >> it is a confusing situation. donald trump and all of his public comments has basically acted as if michael flynn was persecuted. a good man driven from office by the hounds in the mass media and mike pence trying to put a nice

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gloss and saying that vindicates the president's decision to fire him. this guy was not only acting as a foreign agent, literally as a foreign agent, not metaphor kalli while he was traveling with donald trump and close to donald trump as anybody. he was the person who became the national security adviser and somehow the president and others right now, at least the official explanation, they had no idea that he was acting as a foreign agent when he was appointed to be national security adviser. that is one of the most extraordinarily, if it's true, they did not know, one of the most extraordinary failures of vetting i've ever heard of. >> on there are so many unheard truths here it's hard to know what happened on any level with literally anything we have talked about since the show started today. >> the press needs to follow-up and need to keep asking the question. did they know? if they did know, that is bad as if they didn't know. because if they didn't know, it was one of the most unprofessional sloppy vetting processes that i've ever heard

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of in washington getting paid $500,000 by turkey, a hostile -- gwyn again, the past four, five, six years, a hostile player as it pertains to syria. only becoming more helpful over the past year or two. i mean, isis used turkey to get into syria for the better part of the civil war. and this guiel is getting paid and is a foreign agent of turkey. >> so staggering. i can't process it. >> hold on onto it for a a second, halpern. they have made a joke of the entire transition process and this presidency has no credibility where we stand right now. i don't say that with hysteria. i say that with a deep sense of concern how we often cover this story because there are people

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who believe trump from start to finish and he's not telling the truth. >> you're not shrill. you're just sad/mad, mika. >> i'm so sad. >> and know look closely. she is not crying. i know she is a woman. >> i may not make it to the commercial. >> maybe you think she is crying but no, she is just pissed. mark halpern, finish your thought. >> they have to do some soul searching over there because they are still vetting people for top jobs. this guy was at the center of the foreign policy apparatus during the campaign and in the government, and who brought his son, his controversial son with him, and they have got to do some soul searching and put out the facts and have to figure out how could such a thing has happened? i can think of a few examples from previous administrations of things in this direction but literally nothing like this that i've ever seen.

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>> it's important to point out this is not something from his deep dark past. this lobbying was happening from august until november in the heat of the presidential campaign. >> i'm checking four boxes. >> he wrote an op-ed on this issue that appeared in "the washington post" on election day advocating for this position. this is a time when donald trump was going around railing as hillary clinton practicing pay to play in the state department and while michael flynn was yelling how hillary clinton should be locked up. the hypocrisy of it is staggering if they knew and if they didn't know. >> just stop! there will be some required reading for political junkies next year. mark and john will publish the third installment of their best "game change" series and will focus on donald trump's victory over hillary clinton, plus hbo is planning to turn the new book into a miniseries directed by executive producer jay roach. this will be great, guys. >> congratulations, fellows.

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>> thank you very much. >> where do you begin? >> beau bridges is playing willie geist! the only casting decision that we are preparing to announce today. >> i had that written into the contract. it had to be bridges or you couldn have me in the movie. do we know what the book is called yet? >> untitled. >> we probably will change that because untitled is not a great title for a book. >> we have game change and double down and then tbd. >> we will see where the reporting goes. >> wow. still ahead on "morning joe," house speaker paul ryan rolls up his sleeves, literally, to get to work to sell the health care plan to sell to his colleagues. we will bring in the u.s. secretary of health and human services. dr. tom price will join us. the man responsible for whipping republican votes in the house, congress steve scalise and congressman tim ryan on the game plan and mcconnell answering the question in his own special way on the issue of who is paying for the wall. we will have that coming up for

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you. first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. what gout? >> we have to watch madison again. two things things. how did she hang on to the door handle and not drop the phone that was in her other hand? this is in ohio. wind were gusting up to 60 miles per hour. here comes the gust and there goes madison. she got pinned against the siding of her house and yelling, mom! but look at her right hand. she has the phone in her hand. doesn't drop that and she holds on to the door handle! that is impressive. and she is fine and everyone is laughing about it now. scary moments there for mom as she turned around and saw her daughter acting like a kite. talk about the bad weather. the snow and cold and snowstorm for next week. the snow is breaking out much in state of pennsylvania is covered right now. connecticut, southern portions of new york. hudson val is covered and snow is heading toward new york city he and in an hour or two it will be sticking on the grass, not the roads. 40 million people impacted by

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enthis storm because 10 million in new york city. here is the snow forecast. about 2 to 3 inches from philadelphia north wards and in the mountains and outside of new york city also. then the big story next week. during the weekend it's very cold in the east. then we are going to deal with the potential for the biggest snowstorm of the winter season it appears coming up the coast and a lot of atlantic moisture available and plenty cold enough for mostly a snow event away from the coastal areas and this should be a really impressive nor'easter maybe even slash blizzard type storm on tuesday. if you have travel plans, keep that in mind. could be a big storm as we go throughout the early portions of next week. more details on that in the days ahead. you're watching "morning joe." we will be right back. two become one.

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live-streat the airport.e sport binge dvr'd shows while painting your toes. on demand laughs during long bubble baths. tv everywhere is awesome. the new xfinity stream app. xfinity. the future of awesome. donald trump throughout the campaign was building a wall along the mexico border which

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mexico would paid for. but, yesterday, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell said this about the wall. >> well, i'm in favor of border security. [ laughter ] there are some places along the border where that is probably not the best way to secure the border. but i think general kelly knows what he is doing. i think the president picked an outstanding person to be in charge of homeland security and my suspicion is we will take his advice. >> reporter: do you believe that mexico will pay for it? >> no. [ laughter ] >> in a word. no. >> mika, mitch mcconnell, we talked about it a couple of weeks ago where i interviewed him and mitch only says what mitch wants to say. he really doesn't care whether the person interviewing him likes it or not. it's one of the things you have to admire about the guy. he is just a very tough guy. >> i do. >> mitch mcconnell has decided,

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over the past several weeks, he is not going to be a dupe for donald trump, and there are a lot of republicans, sadly that i know and respect, who have decided they will be a dupe for donald trump. and that they have got to live with that. but mitch mcconnell is just -- he is showing, i think, real toughness and a real character, you know, taking the president to task at twitter saying, you know what? there are some other people in washington that pretty good at this politics thing too. and i think that is a good example. i mean, listen. republicans need somebody to look up to and respect in this country that aren't okay with donald trump lying every day, aren't okay with fantastic promises, that aren't okay with him trashing the courts. mitch mcconnell is not okay with him tracker the courts and he said so. not okay with him trashing the

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press. so we are seeing -- that is a good sign. >> i agree completely. >> and good leadership. good for mitch mcconnell. >> absolutely. mcconnell's comments come as a new cnn/orc poll shows that majority of americans disapprove of funding the wall. kelly said a 40% drop of illegal crossings along the border since the start of the year and quite frankly, those numbers have been going down for years. that is the whole sort of stupidity of the equation. what is that? >> willie, listen. willie, again, we have said this before. but look at how the trump -- i mean, donald trump is setting things up just the opposite way that you want to set things up. on the economy, on illegal immigration, and on crime. he is saying, you know, there is american carnage out there. unemployment is at 4%.

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so what is it going to be when he runs for re-election and unemployment is at 6% and it's the worst crime in 48 years. no, it's really the lowest crime rate in about 48 years. had a little uptick last year. but historically low. we can expect the crime rate will probably stay the same or go up. so then what does he say if it's the worst in 47 years now what does he say two years from now? same thing with illegal immigration. it's been going down for years now what is he going to say? he has created these ises where these crises don't exist. what happe when we have a slight return tonormalcy? suddenly, he looks terrible. >> it begs the question do you need the wall, exactly, mr. trump? mr. president since you came into office. incident to take credit for those going down? i'm sure he will at some point. also, president obama was known as the deporter in chief and deported more people than anybody.

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the numbers of people streaming across the border have already been going down so you set yourself up with a strawman of something that is actually not happening and paint yourself in noo a corner now and you have to push for 22 billion dollar wall that will include using eminent domain and all of these things nobody wants to have to use. what do you need the wall if everything is happening without wall? >> the two academic numbers i think they are most focused on where they think they can see improvement, one is the gdp number getting it closer to 3 than at 2. the other is job creation although we had month after month new jobs adding to the economy but the numbers weren't very big. they believe the job owning they are doing and as well as the policies they are pursuing can get those numbers higher by next year and maybe by the end of this year. >> i believe we are going to see an increase in economic pace and if listening to all of the business owners and the business community, listening to what

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they are saying, they are expecting great things ahead. if you can get the gdp out of the 2. it's been anemic over the past eight years on average and we came out of the worst recession since the great depression of the 1930s. if that happens, mika, then, yes, that will be positive. but to believe that you're going to jump up to 5% growth at a consistent rate in a way that is not going to be destabilizing so the economy in the long run, that is a stretch. george w. bush had 5, 6% growth right before the collapse in 2007 and 2008. a lot of big promises and in a lot of areas where we are historically doing as well as we have done in quite sometime on unemployment, crime, and immigration crossings. >> go ahead. >> i'll say to me the growth would be great. more jobs would be great. in the end, the number that matters and especially to a lot of donald trump's constituents

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really matters is real wage growth and so, you know, the question is how growth and tax reform are going to play together. if you have regressive tax reform in the end, if middle class and working class voters see a bigger number on the gdp, that is great. if they see more jobs being created that is also great but if their paycheck is not going up and there is still a question of standard of living. what is happening in my house? >> i have a feeling that is where the rubber meets the road. up next, selling something to people who are just not buying it. donnie deutsche will join us with his take on how the gop should brand their new piece of legislation. "morning joe" is back in a moment. it's an important question you ask,

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a lot of frustration and confusion among conservative groups and even among members is reconciliation has certain limits. there are folks who would love to see us put in this reconciliation bill all of these other ideas and one conservative group is saying by golly, you better but shopping across state lines in this bill or we will

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not support it. if we did he wouldn't pass the bill and wouldn't come up in a vote. >> professor paul ryan giving a seminar yesterday. full steam ahead for republicans pushing their obamacare repeal plan anding seemingly without tr party's conservative members. it advanced through house yesterday and lawmakers working through the night to mark it up. vice president mike pence takes the health care pitch to kentucky tomorrow home of senator rand paul. president trump met with house conservatives at the white house yesterday tweeting from his official white house account, quote, great legislative meeting underway. paul ryan the self-proclaimed showed up at a press briefing yesterday ready to talk business and no jacket and sleeves rolled up and power point presentation and a clicker. >> this is the closest we will ever get to repealing and replacing obamacare. the time is here.

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the time is now. this is the moment. and this is the closest this will ever happen. it really comes down to a binary choice. we said in 2016 to our citizens to the american people and our constituents if you give us this chance, this opportunity, this is what we will do. now is our chance and our opportunity to do it. >> one of the bill's appoints chronicman followed that up tweeting, quote, binary choice. fal la on the senate side, warnings from republicans that the bill making its way through the house is unlikely to pass the upper chamber in its current form. >> well, i think any time you introduce legislation that is going to remake one-sixth of our economy and affect every american in a personal and intimate way. every other senator is well

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aware where i and where many senators stand by the bright neck pace this is operation and the bill as written today would not pass the senate because it would not reduce prices for insurance and make care affordable and personalized. >> when you have a president of a different party, you with freelance all you want to. go at press conferences. you guys show up a ten-point plan to do this or that. but now we have an actual chance to change the country. we have somebody who will sign legislation that we pass. we need to get into a governing mode and start thinking about actually achieving something, rather than new kind of sparring. >> then there is this report from the brookings institution saying it examines tpects the c estimate 15 million people will lose covage uer the american health care act.

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president trump tweeted this, quote, health care is coming along great and predicted it will end in, quote, a beautiful picture. joe, a lot to digest there. you have all of these different factions within the republican party but the democrats decide with specific complaints the ones we heard there and add in as well the senators from states that accepted medicaid expansion as part of obamacare and don't want to see that changed. >> paul ryan out there. again, you got the white house that is asking the question, why is it that paul ryan is getting incoming from all sides of his own members? they are wondering why this wasn't talked through, while the debating and the sparring didn't take place behind closed doors. certainly what i heard yesterday. but donnie deutsche, the ghost of same rayburn has to be scratching his noggin right now going, wait? you go out and you hold a press

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conference to try to convince members of your own caucus to support what is the most important bill of the term? it was pretty remarkable moment, which i guess just indicates how deeply divided the house republicans are, but this is a first big thing they are doing after america has turned over the keys to all of washington, d.c. to him and it looks like the republican party. as i said yesterday, just not ready for prime time. this would be like a ceo going out and holding a press conference trying to bring members of her board along with her or -- it's -- i -- one of these things i've never anything like it before. on your most important piece of legislation, you do that behind closed doors. we would get beat up for weeks behind closed doors before leadership would go out with their big bills.

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and then we were either all together or bite our tongue because we had that time to vent behind closed doors. not here. >> shoot first and ask questions later. interesting this is not called trump care and that is for a reason. no-win situation for health care. if i'm advising trump i say to him keep obamacare as long as you possibly can because as soon as that is gone you don't have nixon to kick around any more or obamacare to kick around any more. if you want to insure 20 million people that don't have insurance, somebody is going to pay for it. the premiums are going to get higher and so on and so forth. in this new plan, by the way, the very people donald trump ran elected him the lower income people in the rust belt are the ones hurt most from this. there is almost no win in this plan. if i'm donald trump, a part of me almost wants this can to get

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kicked down the road. health care is a rubik cube and still called obamacare. >> donnie identified the biggest problem the question of coverage and the politics and substance taking coverage away from people who have it and not showing any desire through the enactment of the plan to get people covered. their strategy, though, in the short term is what ryan was saying. they thif you take the conservatives in the house saying i'm never voting for this thing and tell their constituents this is the vote to get rid of the affordable care act that those members in the end will vote for it. the other thing, john, that i was told yesterday was the third part of the system that reform that they talked about million malpractice reform and to be able to sell insurance over state lines is not part of the original bill. they think that that will appeal to a lot of conservatives and at least give them an excuse to say, if that can be enacted faster, we can get on board with this. >> right. here is the thing that i think

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is the bigger conundrum for them and i get all that. if you think that -- ithis that there is all of this disarray in the house right now and the problem with the right flank that ryan is trying to solve. to me the larger question continues to be what happens if they solve that problem and get something passed through the house? that should be the relatively easier problem. once they get to the senate, you got a much bigger problem waiting for them down the line and it's hard for me to imagine, i continue to think that you can end up with something that will be good enough where ryan can make the sale he is trying to make and get that right flank on board that will have any chance of appealing to the relatively mainstream republicans who are going to determine the fate of this in the upper chamber. >> john heilemann, you just underlined the biggest problem here is the real problem at the end of the day is not going to be passing this through the house. >> right. >> the house is a dictatorship. i say that with all of the love and respect in the world for the house of representatives. it is a dictatorship.

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it will be passed through the house of representatives one way or another. but the more conservative they make this in the house, the less likely it is to come close to passing and in the senate. some said the members of the house need to tell the senate here is the bill, take it or leave it. this is your best shot. i'm sorry. i was in the house. the house has never sent over a bill to the senate that the senate looks at as anything other than an unnecessary distraction that they are going to have to clean up and perfect. fn if that is their message to the senate the senate will throw it away in about five seconds. >> i'm not saying it will work but the three-prong strategy in the senate is figure out to get them and their states and like the obama administration did sweetheart deal and senators say to the house this is your one chance to get rid of the

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affordable care act. if you vote no and it goes down we are stuck with obamacare. lastly they say you want to get to tax reform? you want tax reform? tax reform will be dead if we don't get health care done. >> joe, as you understand better than anyone at this table, think about the politics of this. if you're sitting in the house you cast a vote for this bill that potentially could take health care away from some of your constituents and then it dies in the senate, you've wasted the vote. you're on the record as taking voting for it and taking health care away from your constituents and to no effect whatsoever because you don't ultimately get into law. >> willie, that was called in my day, that is dtu'd. >> you remember that? >> i'm hearing in it washington right now. >> clinton pushed the house democrats very hard to pass a btu tax. it was a blood bath. and you had people throwing themselves on the barricade who lost their seats in congress because they supported the btu tax.

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goes over to the senate and the democratic senate said, oh, no we are not going to do that. so they lost their seats. they lost their careers. all for something that didn't even end up in the final bill. >> right. >> and donnie deutsche, it's so funny. people get elected to congress and they think they will be there forever. people get into the white house, they think they are going to be there forever. a lot of democrats get elected in 2008 thought that they were part of this new wave, this new obama majority that would be there for 40 years. they got defeated two years later. wiped out by tea partiers. and you talked about the rust belt. that is important but appalachian. appalachian went for the republican party for the first time. there are millions of people in appalachian that are dependent on obamacare.

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they are the people who are much of the swing voters that made donald trump president and it put republicans in charge of congress over the past decade as anybody. they are on obamacare. i've got members of my family on obamacare. they voted for trump. they voted for the republicans. they will not go out and vote in the off year. they won't vote for democrats but they will not vote the off-year election if you take their obamacare away. >> i was eating my lucky charms the other day and you brought up interesting point to congress. you can go back to your constituents who love trump and say, look. i love trump but i love you guys more. and that is why i did not vote for this bill because i'm not letting them take your health care away. if i advise any congressman in any of these areas it's a lose/lose to vote for this bill and win/win to vote against it. >> if you are a conservative, you can say, wait a second. this is what i'd say at my town

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hall meeting. if somebody stood up and said, oh, you didn't vote to get rid of obamacare! i would say well, if you don't like socialism and you think obamacare is socialism, the only thing they gave us was socialism light so let me get this straight. you're not a socialist. you're a quasi socialist. i tell you what, if you want to run as a quasi socialist in northwest florida you go ahead and do that! i'm still a conservative and i'm not going to bend over and i'm not going to -- you can finish the sentence right there. just say, if ll-blown socialism is bad for america's medical system then quasi socialism is just as bad and they can vote me out if i want to. i still love america. and that will work. >> i do too. i love america. >> go ahead. >> there are a thousand different ways to say no in a town hall meeting and be more conservative than everybody in washington, d.c. and i think we may find some people doing that. >> donnie trying to do a

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southern accent is about as icky as it gets. >> i love my country! >> stop! >> a little rap in there! a little biggie in there. >> sort of madison and 57th. >> i'm on the south side of there. >> the government ethics office isn't too happy how the white house handled kellyanne conway televised plug of ivanka trump's clothing line. we will tell but that ahead. plus, there are a lot of numbers in health care reform, including the 218 votes that needs to clear the house. majority whip steve scalise is in charge of making that happen and he joins us straight ahead on "morning joe."

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the government ethics office is criticizing the white house's

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refusal to discipline kellyanne conway for her live television endorsement of ivanka trump's clothing line. >> is that bad? are you not supposed to do that? >> wait. >> are you not supposed to use your position in washington to promote clothes? >> no, you're really not. no. >> who could ever guess that? >> ivanka doesn't want you to do that. >> no, she doesn't. you're not doing anybody a favor. >> the ethics director fired off a letter to top members of the oversight committee because in washington, there is really nothing to do so this is important. anyhow. the watch dog said it was disturbed by the administration's, quote, extraordinary assertion that white house employees are exempt from some of those regulations. i will say it's time for her to probably pack it up. >> the watch dog, they also said that white house was undermining their authority. >> really? >> to just brush this aside.

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let's just say quite unfortunate. >> it's the "wizard of oz" and his minions. >> yet another story that the spokesman is having trouble answering questions about this one on former national security adviser michael flynn's work during the campaign. that is ahead on "morning joe." "how to win at business." step one: point decisively with the arm of your glasses.

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is not. this is not bipartisan. this is your right to do this and you're doing it. but let's not kid ourselves that there is some kind of bipartisan collaboration occurring here and not kid ourselves that this isn't a negotiation with a gun in one hand. second place is one party rule and moving this stuff through faster than lightning speed. this is the closest we will ever get to repealing and replacing obamacare. the time is here. the time is now. this is the moment and this is the closest this will ever happen. >> wow. eight years same issue but now the shoe is on the other foot. speaker pa ryan singing a very differentu th time around. canhe and president trump unite

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their party on the issue that has swept them into power? this as one new report says at least 15 million people will lose their health coverage under the new gop plan. this morning, we are going to speak live with the u.s. secretary of health and human services dr. tom price. plus the man keeping count on the bill's votes house majority whip steve scalise and from the democrat side of the aisle, congressman tim ryan on what to make of all of this. welcome to "morning joe." it's friday. joe, has it not been the longest week? or are all of them long since this presidency began? >> all of them are long and they go to rapid pace. look at those clips from 2009 and then today, i'm struck by something that mark halpern has said all along, and, mark, we hear this president is a disrupter and that washington is going to change.

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they are just doing the same exact thing democrats did in 2009. they are getting around in a huddle and they are saying this is our bill, we are drafting it. and we are get it only with republican votes. i understand that is what the democrats did back in 2009 as well. but all they do is set themselves up to have their bill replaced down the road. at what point does somebody in washington have the strength and the vision to say we are going to do what tip o'neill and ronald reagan did in 1983 and save social security and save it by locking arms. that would be radical and what the american people actually want to see and in our latest nbc news/"the wall street journal" poll 79% of americans say they expect their leaders in congress to compromise with the other side. 79%. 8 in 10. why can't washington do thi

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whcan't y y -- here is the deal. obamacare is going down. democrats can say it's not. they know it is. obamacare is broken. the insurers are moving out. large segments of america it's a monopoly already. you only have one provider. why can't they get together and say health care is going break and let's lock arms and get in a room. it's not going to be history but it will make history and we will reform health care in a way that will save the system, and that last the next election. why can't they do that, mark? >> the biggest contrast years ago president obama spent months to try to get republicans to work with him on health care and it fell apart and this administration and this republican congress didn't even try. they are in danger of repeating

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both political problem, but also substantive problem, because you can't actually reform health care in a sensible way if it's done in a partisan way. ryan tried to fix this yesterday. a lot of americans look at and say it's not consistent with what america values are in terms of a health care system. i think they are in danger of making the same mistake. what are they doing that americans look at it and say, yeah, that is consistent how we want our health care to work. >> joe, let me ask you a question and maybe this is the answer. once again, the obamacare gave 20 million people who didn't have insurance, insurance. it gave people are preexisting conditions with insurance and people to have insurance up to 26 years under their parents' insurance. i don't know how you continue to do that as a businessman and any way, shape or form make it a for effective health plan. a reason rates went up and people had less choice. i don't know if this is a

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democrat or republican problem. i just think this is an unsolvable problem iwe as a nation, want to move one sp closer to a benevolent society and give insurance to 20 million people who don't have it. >> it's an unsofable probllvablf you don't get together and create a system that both sides have bought in on, and when you start to see the system breaking apart, both sides are invested in coming together and instead of giving speeches, coming together and saying, we need to fix that. we are about to lose an insurer. obviously, we have waited this the wrong way. let's get back together and get back into committee. put our heads together. work through it and fix the system. no. this system, as set up is not sustainable and not going to be sustainable for a thousand reasons. even democrats know that. the senator that was architect of it said it's not working any more. this republican plan will not

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work either. they need to get together and work together. i know that sounds like a fantasy but that is actually the way that hamilton and madison's government was supposed to work. hey mika. this is interesting. i say this to you for you and for the -- i think approximately 47 million. willie, is it 47 million catholics who watch us across the globe? >> the most recent numbers last fiscal year, yes. >> last quarter! >> 47 million catholics that watch us. we say hi to all of you especially in africa. we know we are huge there. breaking news. this is fascinating as a guy who went to a catholic high school and admires the church. pope francis you just announce, mika, we will get more breaking news on this, that is now considering allowing priests to marry and in so doing, actually

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strengthen the ranks of the priests because it's been dwindling for sometime and this is something that, obviously, needs to happen for a thousand reasons. if you actually had priests that were married and priests that had children, you would have priests that would be able to relate to the main problems that their parishioners faced. this is pretty darn dramatic. >> that is extremely dramatic and a lot more to that story. i can't imagine what the reaction to that at the vatican is. fascinating. >> i'm glad they are taking a lead from the tribe. i've always said my team is always just a quarter of a step ahead. >> honestly. >> i know 27 million jews watching this show. >> more breaking news. the pope watches our show. he says he has now changed his mind since listening to donnie. mika, let's go on to the news. >> i'm expecting him to talk about the role of women in church and birth control. okay.

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joining the conversation we have white house correspondent for the associated press, julie pace along with donnie and halpern and heilemann is here too. fbi doctor james come yncy onapitol hill yesterday a source said he met with lawmakers to discuss the alleged wiretapping at trump tower and what he spent his day doing yesterday, the head of the fbi. he met with ranking members on the senate side as well as in the house. but despite sources saying he pushed the justice department to make a public denial, he was tight-lipped when approached by nbc's kasie hunt. >> are there any people wiretapped in trump tower? >> before his meeting with director comey, republican senate majority leader mitch mcconnell again put distance between himself and president

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trump's wild accusation against former president barack obama. >> reporter: do you believe that barack obama wiretapped trump tower. >> there's no evidence of that. i've not heard of it before, but that is an appropriate subject for the senate intelligence committee to take a look at, and they are looking at whatever the russians were doing during the election. >> julie pace, i'm wondering among the white house press corps, the conversation between reporters at this point, are you all focused on this question still? and what are the answers that you're getting from the white house about this allegation, besides the tweet speaks for itself, which is backhanded way of backing it up when it appears to be a lie from the president of the united states, calling his predecessor a felon. >> this is amazing this is

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something we are talking about but we have to because the president of the united states raised it and it's such an aoive allegation against his predecessor. in the white house the main answer that you get is what we heard from sean spicer at the briefing. the tweet speaks for itself. i talk to people on background or private conversations there, this is an uncomfortable topic for them. >> when you're sitting in there are you incredulous? i'm reading your faces and i see reporters laughing. i see reporters trying to keep themselves from laughing. i see reporters looking at sean spicer like he is from mars. they just can't believe what they are talking about. and i'd like you to sort of bring to the forefront how ridiculous this feels and how sad this is for not only your jobs, but for the credibility of the presidency and his press person. >> like i said it's amazing we

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have talk about this but we have to because it was raised by the president and not like it was raised by a low level official or on capitol hill. it was raised by the president of the united states. if he is going to put this out here, it's our job to find and answer to get to the bottom of what he is talking about, even know one that we have talked to in the white house or outside of the white house has any evidence to back that up. and the white house is now puttg the burden of making that clear on congress and basically punting the responsibility for clarifying what the president was saying and why he chose to say that. >> i think it's also important to point out over the last week, a lot of people have said he is creating a distraction. his tweets are distraction and focus on what is important. this is not a distraction. this has focused even more clearly the light on to russia and questions now that because of what he tweeted on saturday morning, we have got more investigations. you have jim comey going to the hill and looking into there was a wiretap and were they wiretapping some russian entity because they believed there was

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a relationship between the trump campaign and the russian government or someone in wrurus? this is not a distraction. the president of the united states made this accusation about his predecessor and worthy of an investigation. we all believe and what we have heard from people we talked to there was no wiretap. in that sense it's a goose chase and waste of time but if he makes that allegation you have to look into it. >> how can you believe any word he gives if this distraction is a destructive lie? >> around the clock news last week was jeff sessions because he had been caught in either two lies or two -- >> he defamed president obama to distract from that? >> look. that story went away. that was a very important story. my other concern is once it's proven, if it's ever proven, that we know this doesn't happen, does the president just go oops? is there any repercussion or any accountability? like, this is what the ridiculous thing. we all know it and all of our

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hair goes on fire. but then what happens? what is the accountability? what the is cost of doing business for this man when he does such a ridiculously absurd atrocious thing? what is the cost of that? >> joe? >> we have been sitting around and saying this every morning since the president got sworn in and was lying about crowd ses and lying about several other thin things, but what i'm hearing and what other reporters are hearing and certainly what david ignatius said earlier on our show this week, the business community doesn't care. they say that is donald trump. as long as we get our tax cuts and regulatory relief, we are fine. and david ignatius said foreign leaders have now sort of just balanced it in. they figured it in. china went from being very nervous about donald trump to starting to figure out, well, that is just kind of what he do

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does. we are going to look at his actions rather than any words rather than his tweets. >> sounds like they don't take him seriously saying that is the way he is, he lies. >> i think what they are thinking is what republican leaders are thinking on the hill. we are going to get what we want out of this guy. he is going to be distracted by all of these other things and while he is distracted, we are going to figure out how to work with him in a way that is going to benefit us. i'm not -- listen. i'm not justifying any of this. i am with everyone on this set, as we have been since he has been elected president and since he has been tweeting these outrageously false tweets and insulting the germans and french and lying about obama and calling the press enemies of the people and attacking federal judges. it is all shocking. and i think for me right now, what is today? on march the 10th, 2017, the most shocking thing to me is that nobody, nobody in certain

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communities seems to give a damn that this man lies and whenever he feels like lying, and has never held to account. i do wonder what parents across america are saying to their children. i'm not being melodramatic here. i had boys in middle school when bill clinton was caught doing -- >> i know where you're going. >> what he did with monica lewinsky and i can tell you that changed the behavior of middle schoolers and high schoolers. how do i snow? we had meetings at a day school in middle school about things that girls started inexplicably were doing. if bill clinton is shocked by the poor example he set in the white house, don't think that

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chronic lying coming from the president of the united states is not impacting your children every day. then you're just a fool. and you haven't raised children and you haven't been through what mika and i went through and what every other parent went through with our children in the age of bill clinton. that example matters. the example the president matters so get your damn tax cuts, okay? get your damn regulatory ref, but while you're getting that, talk to your children and let them know that it is not right to denigrate america for the benefit of vladimir putin. it is not right to lie when telling the truth would be easier. it is not right to abuse absolutely everyone who doesn't agree with you. and if you don't want to do that, don't do that but you're the one that is going to be dealing with your kid the rest of your life. >> joe, that is one of the most important things that has been said in a long time.

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he is the behavior in chief. that is the tragic thing in all of this. i deal with 2 with my children. the president is our brand -- he is the logo for our country. great. we have tax cuts, great. it's disgusting. and it's embarrassing. and it angers me, without getting too preachy, as an american. >> the moral code part of this is horrible and we have just spoken to it. i will just say that what i think we are seeing across the board here potentially threatening to our global security. >> i agree with you. >> on every level. and i urge people to read and really make decisions about exactly what they are seeing. i understand why so many people voted for him. i understand where you were coming from. i understand why you liked him. but this man is lying to you. >> he is dangerous. >> it's very important. >> the thing is we sound like

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republicans from 1998 and 1999. actually, before that. mark halpern, i know you were reporting on bill clinton back in the '90s and you remember this. i had so many democrats laugh about the fact that bill clinton lied and got away with lies like that. it would be like that guy is a dog. he can lie about everything and get away with it. i've never seen anything like that. "saturday night live" even had a skit after impeachment. bill clinton laughing saying i'm going to go out and smoke and basically smoke pot in the middle of town square and nobody is going to do anything about it. and i guess maybe some of trump's supporters are now doing the same thing. but this does -- is early ric reminiscent. about the lies his administration told about the

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transfer of missile technology and a thousand smaller things. >> jamaica carville and paul begala were the front lines of defending president clinton throughout all of this would say he is a good man who has done a bad thing. i think that is the mindset at a lot of the trump supporters look at some of the things he has done and including white house officials saying he hadn't done them and said them. >> even that wasn't true. bill clinton lied. his white house lied repeatedly as david said he is an unusual good lier. and democrats accepted that because while he was lying, the democratic party was winning and republicans were losing. well, the shoe is on the other foot now. i'm just wondering where all of those outraged republicans were that were rightly outraged in the 1990s, where are they today with donald trump? he is lying. are you going to let him get away with that because you're getting tax cu.

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>> i think they believe he is a good man who has done some bad things. there has to be accountability for the past and big test next week when chancellor merkel comes to washington and to see all of the complexity of that visit and whether he can learn from what has happened and make that visit what it need to be which is a strong tie to a key ally. >> yeah. absolutely. we have a lot of other news to cover and we will. still ahead on "morning joe," secretary of health and human services dr. tom price joins the discussion. plus, house majority whip steve scalise saying no doubt the gop's health care bill will pass. democratic congressman tim ryan might agree with that and they both join us. more than two decades since the collapse of hillary care. now some are wondering if republican bill is headed to the same fate. tom brokaw will join us for some historical perspective next on "morning joe." tech: at safelite, we know how busy your life can be. mom: oh no...

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with health care costs driving up that deficit, it's no wonder that clinton today chose his closest most influential adviser to tackle health care reform. >> president clinton announced formation of his health care task force and hillary clinton sat front and center because the president put her in charge. >> wow. five and a half days into the clinton presidency saw the dawn of hillary care. joining us now on day 49, 49 of the trump presidency, nbc news special correspondent tom brokaw. good to have you on board. joe, start things off. tom is going to be talking about health care and hillary care and that just brings us back, doesn't it? >> it really does. i need to go to john heilemann. john, misquoted david given.

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what was the quote? >> there are many quotes about bill clinton being a liar. the david given quote to maureen dowd said everyone lies in politic but the clontz lintons easily that it's troubling. the one who said about the quote that president clinton being a good liar was bill carey. >> from mika, democrats. it still applies at least there were some democrats that would say that about bill clinton. we await republicans saying that about donald trump. >> thank you. thank you. thank you, both of you. tom brokaw, health care. go. >> i've been sitting at home watching a lot recently al day long on msnbc and all of the other outlets about this debate and it is so striking to me because it reminds me of what went on during the clinton administration when hillary clinton went behind closed doors and came up with a schematic to change health care in america

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and dropped it on the country and got killed, frankly, by it. what is so striking to me about the republican plan is for eight years, they have been saying obamacare just doesn't work. but, suddenly, they have a plan that they have could belbbled t in a hurry and don't have their troops in line. that is striking to me. i've been talking with the people who met with president trump behind closed doors. these are major health care executives and others. they were quite surprised he was not very familiar at all with the cost structure, with the payment programs that they go through, how medicare is used. i think we need to have a lot more public discussion before this gets jammed through. it doesn't mean that obamacare is perfect by any means. i think that it works for the people from the bottom up, but after that, there are a lot of loose ends that need to be cleaned up. but the final thing is for a of the tlk about getting the budget back in balance, they are going to jam this through before the cbo comes out and says what

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is the deficit? >> yeah. >> i think we have been struck, tom, by exactly what you said. not that there hasn't been more across the aisle work performed on this, but that the troops internally are so divided on it. it's as though it were sprung on them, members of congress, senators, and they said whoa. this is not referabsembling any we would vote for. if you're rob portman in ohio you like the medicaid expansion and don't want it pulled back in two years. there are all of these these that should have been worked out behind closed doors before this rollout that we saw. >> rand paul is on television more these days than any of us. and he is going after it one chapter and verse on every program that he can get himself on to. that is within their own party. i do think the republicans made a mistake and should have learned a lesson from the obama chain is that there had to be some cross aisle consultation going on. the democrats are now saying, we

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are opposed to all of this. i don't think that is a good idea either, by the way. >> this is where having a president with little historical perspective would really help. perhaps somebody who might have been watching what has been going on over the past 12 years closely with health care. so you could then avoid some of these obvious, julie pace, potholes. i mean, i totally cannd why president trump might be not have all of the intricacies down. president obama struggled with this and hard thing to accomplish in recent memory and it wasn't accomplished well and i think everybody agrees with that and now they are doing it all over again with in a rush with a president not connected? >> one of the ironies of this whole discussion you could see a scenario in which donald trump is uniquely positioned to oversee a bipartisan debate on health care because he is not an deeply tied to the republican positions on this. he could actually put people in a room and probably personally

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find things on both sides that he likes. but right now there is not a lot of appetite within the republican party to do that and he is not stepping forward to that is the kind of process he wants it lead. >> wl, look. here is the big question to me. i think we all, if you look back at the experience not just of the health care reform last time but the history going back 40 years. if you're going to do big major social legislation that affects millions of people, a sixth of the economy, if it's going to be stable and work you have to have bipartisan support. one said you have to get 75 senators or never hold up over time. here is the question from my point of view i hear everybody talking about this. how it should be bipartisan. i just don't know any democrats, given everything they went through the last eight years in donald trump or any republican said we want to repeal the affordable care act now will you come along and help us? i don't know any democrats that would be open to that conversation. their attitude, you know what? you guys wouldn't help us eight

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years ago or six years ago. we are not going to help you now. >> john, i get that. what i'm also saying is i think the republicans should have learned from obama eight years ago and said, look, we got to find a way that we get some people across the aisle come in and say we know it's working from the ground up. should we leave that alone? what are your thoughts about doing this? the other thing we are all talking about this but what we need on these tables frankly are the heads of cleveland clinic, the mayo clinic, the regional health care systems are ever more sophisticated these case dai days. a big movement in health care being rewarded for value and results going on on and that is not built into this system. it's an accounting system. >> what are the costs of a divided government? what are the costs of hyperpartisanship the past 30 years? the costs are these. you send out a tweet. you accuse the former president of the united states of being a

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convicted felon. so now you've gone out of your way to make an enemy of a man who was extraordinarily gracious during the transition. a man you could actuallyring in as obamacare collapses under its own weight. it is collapsing under its own weight. i think it was max balkus said it has to be chajnged or it wil die. you could have republican president donald trump with democratic president barack obama saying we disagree on how this moves forward but the one thing we agree on is americans all need affordable health care. they just can't do it. they can't do it. >> it's the most serious and complex issue that faces this country right now. it's still 18% of our economy. most people, including people at this table, get their health care through corporate plans of

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one kind or another. an enormous population out there that is terrified, my guess, at what is going on. can they count on this the next year how they will get the coverage? when i got sick i knew i had a golden plan because it was corporate but i began to think about people who got korns cancer in the middle of america and had a minimal health care plan and what do they do and thinking right now? joe, when you go around the country the first thing you hear, whatever politics no matter who they are for, people say why can't they talk together and why can't we get people in washington to have conversations about these common issues? there is a longing out there. even though they have voted for one side or the other that once they get to washington to have some cross-aisle dialogue. if you have cross-aisle dialogue in this environment, you get killed by your own party. what are you doing talking to that republican? what are you doing talking to that democrat? we have absolutely, at this

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point, we have calcified the system. it's broken up into all of these different parts, rigid and untenable as i think to go forward in this country. >> so tom brokaw, to underline what you just said. when you say that or i say that, there may be some people in the political class who are cynics saying, ah, they live in an ivory tower and have no idea what it's like down there. the latest nbc news/"the wall street journal" poll has two remarkable statistics. one that 74% of americans believe washington is more divided than ever before. but 79% of americans tell nbc news/"the wall street journal" pollsters they expect their elected leaders to compromise in washington, d.c. and work with the other side, proving, once again, winston churchill is right, tom, that americans will

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always do the right thing in the end after exhausting all other possibilities. let's hope, tom, that our leaders listen to the people and actually do that. >> ronald reagan famously said inside the white house to jim baker, jim, if i get 7 of what i want, i'm going be happy with that and i'll find a wayo create a compromise. it was one of the most successful eight years that any president had ever had in dealing with congress. even though he had to stand up against jack kemp about what they are going to do about taxes when they needed to increase them. he was willing to do that based, partly, on his experience of being governor of california for eight years against a very sophisticated democratic opposition in that state. and he learned. he had a kind of internship, if you will, about what happens when you get to washington. >> it does help to have some experience governing. tom brokaw, thank you so much. still ahead, when a country

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sends its pop diplomtop diploma u.s. they are generally greeted by our top diplomat but that was not the case yesterday. that is coming up on "morning joe."

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john heilemann. >> hi. >> i know it was one of their harder songs, but can't hardly wait by the replacements is one of my favorite song. are you a replacements fan? >> oh, yeah. >> that entire album pleased to meet you i think one of the best albums in the 1980s. >> i can't hardly wait to get to the news. >> what is your number one? >> replacement song? >> yeah. >> from the same album. alex. >> we are in agreement on that. that is the right answer. well done. >> i got a replacement song for you. state department says secretary rex tillerson has recused himself from any deliberations on the keystone

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pipeline. state officials say the former oil chief made the decision back in february. it's unclear exactly why he is recusing himself but the announcement follows a demand from green peace this week for tillerson to step aside from the project and then tillerson is being left out even where he is apparently not asking to be left out. mexico's top diplomat was in washington yesterday discussing contentious immigration and border issues at the white house with senior adviser jared kushner and gary cohn and general h.r. mcmaster. the meetings skipped the normal channels leaving the state department and secretary of state rex tillerson in the dark.

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>> a state department spokes -- >> put that into the basket of just absolutely staggering developments early in this administration. it's getting bigger. it's getting bigger. the state department actually later indicated that the mexico diplomats know they have an open invitation but rex tillerson repeatedly left out of one meeting after another. he can't even get the number two that he wants over at the state department. at this point, it's starting to look like it's deliberate. they are trying to keep him on on the sidelines because, as

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david ignatius writes in "the washington post" this morning, that leaves more power to trp's closest aides, people like steve bannon and maybe americans might want to ask whether they feel more comfortable with steve bannon running u.s. foreign policy or rex tillerson. this is what david ignatius writes. tillerson is off to an agonizingly slow start as secretary of state. that matters because if tillerson doesn't develop a stronger voice, the control of foreign policy is likely to move increasingly towards stephen k. bannon. a truly frightening prospect and, of course, not exactly what the american people expected when donald trump selected rex tillerson as secretary of state. how can a guy who ran exxonmobil so efficiently for so many years, allow himself to be elbowed out smacas much as he h

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been elbowed out the past several weeks? >> every administration you see this dynamic. cabinet secretaries in the modern era have to fight to have the kind of influence that they think they are going to have when they sign on, because every function of every cabinet secretary is replicated in the white house and when you've got a president like this one who is the center of activity and center of all decision making it's going to naturally move towards the white house unless the cabinet secretary really asserts him or herself. tillerson is new to government. he doesn't have any deputies as you had. he in a very tough fight to try to be part of the foreign policy discussion which not just bannon but jared kushner, gary kohn in the white house and that is a huge part of american foreign policy. tillerson has a fight on his hand as every cabinet secretary does but the danger for him if he stays marginalized much longer harder to recover because people start filling the vacuum. >> he is new to government and

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learning as he goes. according to a report i have he is talking to feormer secretary of state and learning how unusual he is being treated. >> i was involved in planning. were you sent here with this leader? of course, i was. he is learning and learning how unusual his role. >> he is being treated by a hood ornament. >> he is having problem filling vacancies in the state department. the trump administration has tapped hundreds of officials for position across government, positions that do not require senate confirmation. so they are right in. they are filled by simple appointments by the president. pro publica was able to compile a list of more than 400 official named for these jobs and found some interesting results. seve breitbart contributors and several noted conspiracy theory peddlers. for instance, curtis ellis. is this bad, joe in curtis

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ellis, a specialist to the secretary at the labor department was a columnist at world net daily who once wrote a column with the headline "the radical left ethnic cleansing of america." they also found 36 lobbyists on their list. many of them who lobbied in the same areas by the. is that bad, joe, do you think? >> it's only bad if you want america to be run well. >> right. >> if you only care about the future of this country. if you only believe that public service is actually a noble thing to do. >> right. >> no. it's distressing. in past administrations, john heilemann, you have had white houses that have been working hard to fill positions.

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i know for barack obama eight years ago, the treasury was an especially difficult cabinet or agency to fill up. in this case, this seems to be deliberate. they are deliberately telling rex tillerson, you can't have the number two you want, and we are not going to fill all of these spaces because it gives us more power in the white house. >> well, i believe it's the case now that the top three civil servants at the state department, the people with the longest running experience there had served democrat and republican administrations going back 30 years, all of them have been dismissed. they are systematically stripping foggy bottom of its bipartisannd historical institutional memory and there is no other way to explain that, other than that it's intentional and this is part of steve bannon's effort to, as he says, you know, destroy the administrative state. this is the foreign policy

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aspect of that that they are actually just kind of trying to dismantle what has been the traditional diplomatic foreign policy ballast of how the government works. >> yeah. i -- just got a great e-mail from my friend joanna coles and she points out that the president's outbursts and lashing out even against the former president and some of the lies that just come out of his mouth on twitter, kids go to the principal's office for that. kids get in trouble. it's wrong. that's all. joining us from capitol hill now democratic congressman tim ryan of ohio. i didn't want to bring you into that, tim. thank you for being on the show. >> thanks for having me. >> how is it looking from your perspective? are democrats working on developing their base and getting ready for the future? or fighting out health care? or both? >> well, hopefully, both. health care is a real opportunity for us to show that trump has really gone back on so many promises that he made during the campaign.

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i think this particular health care bill will go down as one of the great flip-flops in political history right up there with read my lips, no new taxes. the promises that president trump made in places like ohio about healer and jobs and then turns around and is going to actively support this health care bill is ridiculous. the head of the ohio hospital association just said this is going to cost us about a million people who will lose their health care and about 25% of hospitals in ohio will close. that is in rural areas that trump was in there campaigning and making a lot of promises. so this is a platform for us to say, this is wrong and why we are better. >> congressman, it's willie geist. just more generally in youngstown and the areas of people you talk to there in ohio. people who voted for donald trump, how do they feel about him 50 days? in health care is part of it. they will be upset if they lose their health care but are they still with him generally? >> i think as of the last few

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days, i think there was a wait and see approach for a lot of people that did vote for him. obviously, didn't like his behavior. they don't like the tweeting and don't like the chaos and want him to get focused. don't like . they don't like the chaos. they want him to get focused. with the health care, things are going to turn. the facts are the facts. the fact that a million people in ohio will lose their health care because of this, those 50-year-old men or women are going to get so hammered by this health care bill, it's not funny. there were, you know, obamacare wasn't perfect. we could fix a lot of things in there and we should, but if you are 50 years old in ohio, getting health care, they used to be able to only charge you 3-1 to everyone else in the plan. now, they are going to be able to charge you five times more than the person in the plan. the subsidies aren't going to connect. these people are going to get hammered. that's going to hit the ground as this health care debate happens and he's tweeting. they are going to say, wait,

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where is the guy th is supposed to be advocatingor us. >> what do you think the motives are of the architects of the health care plan? >> keep a political promise they never should have made. they used this obamacare issue for seven or eight years, banging on the president, banging on democrats, getting people riled up. now, they have to hurry up and make a commitment to a political promise. that's driving the policy here. >> you don't think they think their plan would be better for america than the current law? >> sounds like even republicans don't think that is the case. i mean, there's no way this makes sense, mark. how are you -- their main criticism was, the premiums are too high under obamacare. basically, what they are doing now is they are taking out healthy people that are in the risk pool. they are going to cover people who are older and sicker, which means premiums and deductibles

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are going to go way up. this didn't solve the criticism they kept presenting to the american people. this is a political deal and we need to sit down and we need to stop what's happening now and sit down and fix the things that need to get fixed. >> congressman, i want to change topics and talk about russia and the administration. you were in a position like a lot of democrats you would like jeff sessions to resign. that's not unusual among democrats and a full 9/11-style commission to investigate the connections with trump campaign and russia. what would it take for those two things to happen? >> well, it would take a lot of republicans who think this is a major attack on some fundmental institutions in our democracy, our intelligence community, our voting rights, our voting

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system. republicans, ultimately, at the end of the day have to step up. democrats don't have any power now. that's the problem. >> do you see size to that? >> quite frankly, i don't, i don't. it's disappointing. you would hope some issues rise above democrat and republican. i would hope vladimir putin trying to influence an election in the united states, i would hope a bunch of campaign people from one of the political parties having all these conversations with russian diplomats would rise above this garbage that's the traditional democrat/republican food fight we have here. if that doesn't -- i don't, quite frankly know what will. >> donny has a question. donny deutsche. >> you are one of the emerging faces of the democratic party. i'm a brand guy. there's a lot written about the democratic party losing its way. how would you define the democratic party now. if i say democrats stand for,

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"x," what is your brand right now? >> provide opportunity to working class people, black, white, brown, gay, straight. if you are a working class person, if you take a shower after work, the democratic party is the party for you. whether that means you need child care, whether it means you want health care in your later years through the medicare program. we also have to put people back to work, donny. that means rebuilding the country. yes, part of it is roads and bridges. it's also, i want the democratic party to be the party of the future. that means laying down broad band lines all over the country and hiring that steel worker or coal miner to lay fiber. you hear stories about people up in new york laying google fiber making 55 bucks an hour. that's a pretty good job. the democrats should be pushing laying the fiber lines and putting people back to work. a smart grid. making sure the grids are secure and up to date and move into a renewable energy economy.

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there's so much opportunity in the world now. democrats clearly aren't push thag as much as i would like us to. i think republicans are setting us backwards. we need to be the party of getting working class people back to work. >> sounlds like the guy running 1600 pennsylvania avenue right now. >> that's the frustration. he co-opted a democratic message. part is the democrats fault. i'm more mad at the democrats than the republicans because we dropped the ball on this stuff. we let our people down. we better get on the stick and this health care is an opportunity to reframe it. we have to have a positive plan. it can't just be anti-trump. yeah, we gotta stop this health care bill. what are we going to do for working class people? how are we going to get wages up and secure the country and provide opportunity for young people. democrats need to lay that out in a positive way because there's so many exciting things happening out in the world. the democrats haven't wrapped our arms around this thing and

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said this stuff, the future, what america 2.0 looks like, democrats are going to drive that agenda for the country. >> congressman tim ryan, thank you very much. still ahead, we'll talk to the secretary of health and human services about the strategy moving forward. plus, the fbi director takes the hill. no one is saying much about what he was doing there. we have a pretty good idea. we'll be right back. ♪ why do so many businesses rely on the u.s. postal service?

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we are being told we must rush to pass this legislation. >> we need to slow down and get it right. like mom used to say, you rush and you make mistakes. >> democrats are going to continue in their headlong rush to pass a government takeover of health care. >> where i stand and many republican senators stand, they are troubled by the pace at which the house is operating. >> there is obviously concern. it's gone through the house, but there's no score.

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>> we should have more time to digest it. >> history has a funny way of doin it. >> what a difference eight years make. republicans sounding like dims. this time, they are battling themselves. can president trump and speaker ryan bring their own party on board? one report says at least 15 million people, joe, will lose their health care coverage under the new gop plan. this morning, we are going speak live with the u.s. secretary of health and human services, dr. tom price. good morning, everyone. it's friday. friday, march 10th. we have senior political analyst, mark halperin, john heilemann. joe, you are in washington for meetings, but couldn't make it back up because of the weather. speaking of weather, did you see this little girl? we are going to explain it to you. >> oh!

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oh! oh! >> we'll talk about the incredible winds and rough country across the country. she's okay. before we dive into news, joe, what is your take in washington? you had meetings yesterday on where things stand across the board. >> two big take aways. one, everybody is questioning why the house did what they did. why they handled health care the way they did. the senators, tom cotton is right, so many senators believing they made a mistake repeating the akes of the democrats in 2009, rushing into this. the concerns, also being whispered in the white house really surprised that house gop team didn't have everybody together. they didn't have the freedom caucus on board. they were blindsided by the way they were. a lot of surprise on that

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respect. on another, sort of thing we keep talking about, there's absolutely no evidence as john said in his column and as i'm seeing down here, anybody that supported donald trump day of his election does not support him today. in fact, people in the business community are even more excited about what they believe is going to be sort of financial regulatory tax relief they have needed for quite some time. you know, mika, over the past year and a half, you and i ran across a lot of people that were afraid to admit it. they are not afraid to admit it now. they are more in donald trump's camp, business community, than before. >> fbi director, james comey was on capitol hill where a congressional source says he met with lawmakers to discuss the alleged wiretapping of trump tower. comey met with leadership and top members on the senate side

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as well as in the house. despite sources saying he pushed the justice department to make a public denial, he was tight lipped when approached by nbc's casey hunt. >> were there wiretaps in trump tower? before his meeting with director comey, mitch mcconnell, again, put distance between himself and president trump's allegations against obama. >> do you believe that barack obama wiretapped trump tower? >> there's no evidence of that. i've not heard of it before. but, that's an appropriate subject for the intelligence committee to look at. they are looking at whatever the russians were doing during the election. >> joe, does there need to be a complete investigation, the senate intelligence committee looking into it? >> it's what the white house

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says they want to do. it allows people like mitch mcconnell who knows it's not true, i have no evidence, but we'll do the congressional investigation. i thought, actually, willie geist, the best part when they asked mcconnell, is mexico going to be for the wall, he says, ah, no. i tell you, mitch mcconnell is emerging early as one of our favorites in his answering of the questioning. he is a guy that is not going to kowtow to the president of the united states and go down those rabbit holes as much as some people in the house are willing to do. as you said, the first part of the the comey visit, so much of this is theater. the president of the united states did not wiretap trump tower. the congressmen being asked know. it's an easy phone call to make, an easy answer to get. they are going to go through the

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formalities to get an official answer. last saturday donald trump tweeted this. it was a waste of time for the country. we should be focused on important things, the health care bill, which we have done. the fact is, it is a waste of time. >> mark halperin, i think it's an interesting conundrum for the media. i think we move on so much. at some point we have to focus on one question and get that answer. there's so many shiny pennies across the board here, we could move on to oblivion. >>here are different levels of compartmentalization. we found the business community come partment lized. they are not focused on the twitter feed, it is the

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legislative agenda and the calendar. mitch mcconnell sometimes compartmentalizes and sometimes not. they are trying to adjust to the question could they get this passed? they think they can. is it a good idea? should they slow down for the sake of the long term health and prospect of getting it through the senate. >> the question you have been putting on the table for weeks now, joe. >> nobody is going to convince me this is the smart move. start with tax reform and regulatory reform. mark halperin, i don't think we can underline enough to people in the media that haven't spoken to the business community or people marching the streets or people supporting. if you want to get donald trump's approval ratings, you have to convince the business community they should be concerned about the tweets. they should be concerned about

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the bizarre statements. they should be concerned about all the things that a lot of people in washington, in the washington and new york bubble are concerned about. a lot of americans across the country are concerned. they are just not. in fact, it is shocking just how little they care about anything other than regulatory reform and tax reform. they have completely compartmentalized everything else. i just say this, i am reporting, by the way, people that own the media companies that have people that are going around and all talking about how shocked and stunned we are at donald trump's lack of respect for constitutional values and presidential traditions. the business people that run the media companies are obviously thinking the same thing. i have yet to meet a business person that's not thrilled he's

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president of the united states. >> this extends not just to republican business people. >> oh, no! >> democrats in washington and new york. firms are run by democrats still in their jobs during the obama years. they are compartmentalized. not just jockeying for favorable outcomes, but enthusiastic about it. >> it's shocking. last year, when we talk to people and ask who is supporting trump and nobody would admit it. then they come whisper it to us later on. >> yeah. >> that's not how it is in 2017. they will tell you right up front. a lot of great things are about to happen. it's kind of surreal. it really is. >> it's not surprising that, you know, the business community with the prospects of tax reform, the prospects an administration doesn't care about the budget deficits and going to run a fiscal policy.

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regulatory reform, tearing down obamacare. doesn't surprise me the stock market and the business community are where they are. again, they are beyond the twooets. there are realities playing out here especially on the russia front where, not the distractions, but the actual, as progress occurs and we learn more day by day, that's still a story that the business community may be a lagging indicator on that. as that progresses and does political damage to the administration, the business community will look up and say we have a problem here. for you, the focus is what affects our bottom line. that's all good for them. the reality may catch up to that. the one kav yacht i throw in is i talk to the head of a large corporation yesterday and the head of a small american based business who both said this talk of taf riffs and protectionism

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scares them. they think the border is devastating to their bottom line. so much of what they have to make comes from out of the country. if it is implements or tariffs, it is passed on. i'm hearing the same thing from the business community. >> there's a big picture and long-term consequences to some of the thing that is happened in this administration so far. the vice president has waeighed in on it. flynn performs a half million dollars worth of lobbying for turkey before election day. he registered his work as a foreign agent in paperwork filed with the justice department on tuesday, disclosing work performs from august to november, 2016. here is press secretary sean spicer followed by vice president mike pence reacting to the news they just learned yesterday. >> was the president aware that

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lieutenant general michael flynn was acting as a foreign agent when he appointed him to be the national security adviser? >> i don't believe that was known. i would refer you to general flynn and the department of justice in terms of the filings that had been made. >> had the president known that, would he have known him? >> i don't know, that's a hypothetical, i'm not prepared to answer. >> hearing that story today was the first i heard of it. i fully support the decision president trump made to ask for general flynn's resignation. >> disappointed by the story? >> first i heard of it and i think it is an affirmation of the president's decision to ask general flynn to resign. >> joe, what is your take? for me, it seems deeply concerning that they had no clue about this since flynn and trump spent day and many flights and

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nights together traveling on the campaign trail. this seems impossible. >> the fact that that man was a foreign agent of turkey, who has been hostile toward u.s. interests for a good part of the syrian civil war, and was getting paid at the same time he was delivering a speech trashing hillary clinton at the republican national convention. >> saying lock her up. >> he was an agent of foreign country, of turkey throughout the in phases of the campaign and when donald trump got elected, it's shocking. i guess it shouldn't be shocking. this is the sort of thing that would not have happened in past administrations, but there are, apparently, it's everything goes ethically. by the way, i would like some

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clarification from the white house at some point, did donald trump fire michael flynn or did michael flynn resign? because if he resigned, donald trump acted angry saying a good man was hung. right wing websites are saying -- >> now he fired him. >> john heilemann, right wing welcomeses are now going out and talking about and right wing columnists talking about how michael flynn was set up, no due process, he did nothing wrong. well, did he resign or did donald trump fire him? if donald trump fired him, if the right wing websites are right, why is he such a weak president and fold to things that aren't true? >> it's a confusing situation. as you said, joe, donald trump and his public comments basically acted as throe michael flynn was persecuted, a good man driven from office by the hounds and the mass media.

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now you have mike pence trying to put a nice gloss on that saying it's the president's decision to fire him. if this guy was not only acting as a foreign agent, literally as a foreign agent, not metaphorically, while traveling with donald trump, and as close to donald trump as anybody, he became the national security adviser and somehow the president and others, right now, at least the official explanation is they had no idea he was acting as a foreign agent when appointed to be national security adviser. that is one of the most extraordinary -- if it's true they did not know, an extraordinary version of vetting i have ever heard of. >> so many untruths here, it's hard to know exactly what happened on any level with anything we talked about since the show started today. >> the president needs to follow up and ask the question, did they know? if they did know, it's as bad as if they didn't know. if they didn't know, it was one

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of the most unprofessional vetting processes i have heard of in washington, getting paid $500,000 by turkey, a hostile, again, for the past four, five, six years, a hostile player as it pertains to syria, only becoming more helpful over the past year or two. isis used turkey to get into syria for the better part of the civil war. this guy is getting paid. >> up next, as the gop fights health care battles on the left and right. health and human service secretary, tom price joins us. first, bill karins with a check on the forecast and the severe winds across the country. bill? >> the winds were crazy in ohio, the great lakes and ohio. 4-year-old coming home, does

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what she does, runs home, opens the door, going to head inside. oops, mom foot something. what are y doing madison? whoa! how did she hold on to the phone in her right hand and the phone. she is laughing now whachlt a story she has to tell. dealing with a snowstorm, cold outbreak, then a snowstorm. we are getting the snow on the ground. a lot of roads are doing fine, not many problems will. as we go throughout the rest of the day, we watch mostly the grassy surfaces, not so much areas that are further inland. that's good. snow totals look like this, two to four inches on the grassy surfaces, it will wrap up by 5:00. then this cold outbreak. negative three, negative five, negative four. cold in the great lakes and new england. then a potential nor'easter. this is tuesday. this is the biggest snowstorm of the season for the east coast.

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cold air is in place. that's going to set the stage tuesday, tuesday night from d.c. to the mid-atlantic and the northeast for a potential major snowstorm. time square in new york city, we have the snow. it's doing what it likes, falling, looking pretty and p melting as soon as it hits the pavement. you are watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. safety isn't a list of boxes to check. it's taking the best technologies out there and adapting them to work for you. the ultrasound that can see inside patients, can also detect early signs of corrosion at our refineries. high-tech military cameras that see through walls, can inspect our pipelines to prevent leaks. remote-controlled aircraft, can help us identify potential problems and stop them in their tracks. at bp, safety is never being satisfied. and always working to be better. with e*trade's powerful trading tools, right at your fingertips,

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there's a lot of frustration and confusion out there among conservative groups and members. reconciliation has certain limits. there are folk who is would love to see us put in this reconciliation bill ideas. one group is saying, put shopping across state lines in this bill otherwise, we are not going to support it. if we did that, it would be filibustered in the senate and not come up for a vote.

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>> that is paul ryan walking through the health care plan. joining us now, the secretary of the u.s. department of health and human services, dr. tom price. mr. secretary, thanks for being with us. >> good to be with you. thanks so much. happy friday. >> happy friday to you, too. one of the questions we have been getting from across the country, not in washington or new york, but as they hear the details of the house plan unfold, do i lose my health care on this? it's a question a lot of people want answered. the brookings institute estimate 15 million people would be moved off health care. what is the number you have about how many people would lose their health care under this new plan? >> we don't want anybody to lose health coverage or health care. the fact is, right now, people are losing their health care and health coverage because of the plan put in place with the previous administration.

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you have deductibles increasing. you have premiums. one-third of the counties in the country have one insurer offering coverage. five states have one insurer. people are losing their coverage right now. that's an important point because that's the baseline we are looking at. what we want to do is solve that, fix it, put in place a system that makes sure every american has access to health coverage of the highest quality tharks is affordable and provides choices. we don't believe individuals will lose coverage so long as they can select the plan they want. >> to be clear, initially, if this plan were signed into law, no one would lose their health care? >> nothing changes for 2017, as you know. in terms of the law that is debated right now. >> when it's implemented, would anyone lose his or her health care? >> may be moved from a plan they have that is much more desirable

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fur them to have. the previous administration forced people to buy health coverage they may not want or forced to use because of the increased premiums and deductibles. what we want and the american people want is a system that allows them to choose the kind of coverage they have for themselves and their family. that's why we need the three parts, three phases. the bill in congress, the one at depament of healthnd services through rules and regulations to make a more vibrant market and phase three, the other bills, many of them insurance changes that they will go through congress. some of them concurrently, but some in the future. >> mr. secretary, i want to underline this, for a lot of families, this is a life and death question. >> that's why it's important. >> if it's repealed, this plan is signed into law through the senate and everything else, there will be no gap? the people currently enjoying the benefits all will be covered by the new plan? >> that's why the president said

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in his joint session to congress a few weeks ago, that we want to make certain the transition time line for this works for everybody. we want to make certain nobody falls through cracks, the rug isn't pulled out from anybody. if somebody has a plan, they keep it or transition to a plan that is more responsive for them. our goal is to keep patients at the focus of all this. sadly, we see a system where patients aren't at the focus. >> the numbers like the 15 million people that have been thrown around that will be moved off the affordable care act are p patently false? >> i believe those numbers look at this in a siloed situation where they don't look at the kind of reforms and changes that will come about or the options and choices that individuals will have. again, we want nobody to lose coverage or lose access to coverage that currently has that and we want to increase the number of individual that is

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have access to coverage. there are 20 million folks out there across the land who said to the previous administration and government, we don't want what you have and we are going to pay a penalty or request a waiver. 20 million folks don't have coverage because of the rules too onerous to purchase coverage. >> mark halperin? >> who is keith hall and what do you think of him? >> keith is the cbo director and i worked with him as budget chair. >> what do you think of him and his judgment? >> well, congressional budget office is an organization that does their best to get numbers right. god bless them, when they looked at obamacare originally, the aca originally, they said there would be 20 million people getting coverage through the exchange. as you and i both know, that number of folks getting their coverage through the exchange that didn't have coverage before is in the 3 million, 4 million,

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5 million range. they have been underperforming when it comes to evaluating health systems. not because they are bad folks, this is challenging stuff. >> i'm sorry to interrupt, if you have so little faith in the cbo, even someone you like and work with, why do we have the cbo? why pay their salaries if you are going to say we can disregard what they decide? >> it's a little off topic but i put forth a series of budget process reform so we could rely on the number that is camerom cbo. i would urge my former colleagues to pick that up an move forward with it. it is absolutely necessary. the american people need to know and members of congress need to know they can trust the information that's coming from the congressional budget office and the office of management and budget which will have different numbers as it relates to coverage and cost. there are other individuals working on the legislation that is before congress looking at

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the legislation and going to come forward with their assessment and their modelling of coverage and cost numbers we will see. our goal is to keep patients at the center, have a system that is affordable for everybody, accessible for everybody, the highest quality with the choices the american people demand and deserve. >> congressman, the last question of people losing coverage, you said transition people, people not lose coverage or not lose access to coverage. i want to ask you the same question i asked other republicans supporting this legislation. who are people who will, consumers who will be worse off than they are under the current law? >> it's a hypothetical, frankly. what we want are everybody to be better off. we want people to purchase the coverage they want. right now, the american people, if they are buying through the exchange, they are forced to purchase coverage that may or may not work for them. that's one of the important keys

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why the aca, obamacare failed. it it's dictating. >> you want everybody to be better off. is there no category of person who you think would be worse off under the new law, if it pass snd. >> the premise is nobody is worse off right now. the fact of the matter is there are millions of americans who are worse off because of obamacare and the aca. i talked to my former medical colleagues, i'm a physician, third to sit in this role in health and human services. i talked to former medical colleagues and patients come in, they make a recommendation and the patient cries because they can't afford that. the deductibles have gone through the roof and i can't afford the deductibles. people have an insurance card, but they aren't getting care. that's the key. we want folks to get the care, not just the card. >> health and human services secretary, tom price, thank you for being on the show this

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morning. >> thanks so much. have a great friday, a great weekend. >> thank you. that was the sell. donny, what did you think of the sell? >> tap dancing, there are certain realities that are fact. the people that set up to help the most, the poorest people and people over 60 are going to get hurt from it versus the wealthiest people. the big thing they are taking off the table, the individual mandate is being replaced by a penalty cost of somebody drops out and wants to come back in. the reason it's not going to add up dollars wise is the only people that want to come in and pay the penalty are the people that really need health care. you are taking the people who have been supporting it out of the market and bringing the people in who are the most expensive. you are not helping as far as the individual mandate point of view. the reality is everybody who looked at this, the booking institute said yes. 15 million will lose health care. so, he was doing a lot of dancing.

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>> a slight of hand there. he said we want everyone to have access to care. we don't want anyone to lose care. access to care is the mirage. everybody can have access. who is going to lose coverage? there's not a scenario that we are talking about. this version of the bill or one that's contemplated where people are going to lose coverage. the question is how many. you have to be straight about that if you are going to try to get it done. >> here is the thing about our president. we have been talking throughout the show and i agree with joe, basically nobody who voted for trump changed their mind. a couple years down the road, if some of those people in michigan or ohio start to lose their health care, you are going to see a very different tune. >> they have been enjoying the benefits of the affordable care act. whether republicans or democrats now, six or seven years. if you take those away, it is going to hurt you politically. you can't say by taking a program this big away, you are not going to lose people and

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fall through the cracks. there are going to be people who lose their health care. >> still ahead, the jobs report of the trump era was released moments ago. we'll have the numbers and what they mean, next on "morning joe." ♪ announcer: get on your feet for the nastiest bull in the state of texas. ♪ ♪

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all right. we just got the monthly jobs report. let's go to sarah eisen of the yooi yooi stock change chlgt what does it show? >> healthy job growth. the first full month of jobs under president trump, 235,000 jobs added. it's better than expected. the unemployment rate drops to 4.7% from 4.8%. some signs of wage growth is something we have been looking for throughout the jobs recovery. wages increased 2.8% from the year before. we need to see a number that goes more like 3%, but still, it is healthy to see those gains. a big part of the story here, construction jobs really grew. strongest rate there in terms of job growth in ten years, it was a warmer february. the weather might have had

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something to do with that. an overall sign that some of the confidence jumps we have seen boast election from businesses and home builders are actually translating into higher, more hiring. i want to bring in labor force participation tipped up a bit to 63%. that's encouraging. perhaps that trend stabilized a bit. as i said, overall, a strong report. what does it mean for the markets? well, next week, there's a big federal reserve meeting. the bet is they are going to raise interest rates next week. this strong jobs report adds fuel to that argument. market seems to be taking it well though. they are looking at this economy as doing a lot better in the first few weeks and month here of the trump presidency. >> cnc sarah eisen, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> john heilemann, what is your take on that? good jobs report. >> the reality, is you are

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donald trump, politically it's nice to have good jobs reports. it's not that different from what we saw with president obama. this is not a knock on donald trump, the reality is we are 50 days into the administration. nothing the administration has done is affecting the way american jobs are created. we'll look in six months to see about the climb and policy changes will make their way through the system. these job numbers reflect decision that is were made in hiring back in november, december, around when there was the hangover, the transition between the two administrations. it's good for trump, but he can't say these are my numbers. >> but he will. >> joe? go ahead. >> he can say that. donny is right, he will say that. look at the stock market, there's no doubt, there's a trump rally. a lot of people on wall street say the trump bump. no doubt about that. as far as long term systemic

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growth, yes, we have to look at the two things that matter the most to working class americans who have been feeling the crunch. what are the wages going to look like over the next 4-8 years, what are his changes going to do and can he bring back manufacting jobsto the united states that left 20 years ago, paying $35 an hour and now come back paying $14 or $15 an hour. those are the systemic changes and challenges that face every new president. we won't know the answer to how his economic policies are impacting those two issues for a decade. >> joe, you talked earlier in the show about the bullishness of ceos. they think we are at the top of the macht and starting to short. what's built in are the tax cuts, deregulation and uncertainty factor weighs in. a lot of people feel we are at the tippy top of the market.

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>> there may be that concern now. i'm always very suspect of the stock market. i'd rather go to the dog track than invest in the stock market. i think it's at the top. i will say, a lot of people believe regulatory reform, tax reform, is going to drive the market up even more. you have trillions of dollars offshore that will be reinvested in america. that will really make this economy explode. that is the belief, hard to say. also, what impact are we going to have, mika is unemployment falls to 4.7%. what impact are we going to see actually, when interest rates start going up? by the way, as the interest rates go up, the $20 trillion debt suddenly has american taxpayers paying a lot more money, throwing it straight down a rat hole for interest on america's $20 trillion national debt.

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a lot of problems for this republican congress and the president to confront. up next, the congressman who will be whipping those health care votes in the house. says don't confuse having insurance with having health care. we'll clear it up with steve scalise. he nails down the difference, next. so how old do you want to be when you retire? uhh, i was thinking around 70. alright, and before that? you mean after that? no, i'm talking before that. do you have things you want to do before you retire? oh yeah sure... ok, like what? but i thought we were supposed to be talking about investing for retirement? we're absolutely doing that. but there's no law you can't make the most of today. what do you want to do? i'd really like to run with the bulls. wow. yea. hope you're fast. i am. get a portfolio that works for you now and as your needs change. investment management services from td ameritrade.

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the gop's new health care bill cleared its first hurdle when it was passed by the house ways and means committee after roughly 18 hours of debate, which may explain why things got a little loopy like these from jason smith. >> you can tax a let of different items if you want to stop behavior. you know, i love ice cream. ice cream is probably not the most healthy thing to eat.

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why is there not a tax on that? look at the number one cause of skin cancer, it's not tanning beds. do a google search. it's the sun. why have they not proposed a tax on the sun? >> so, if you are worried about losing your health care, do not worry, it's safely in the hands of the guy googling, why not tax the sun. >> steve scalise is our next guest. the felon has good numbers and trump says they are great again. we'll be right back. knowing where you stand. it's never been easier. except when it comes to your retirement plan. but at fidelity, we're making retirement planning clearer. and it all starts with getting your fidelity retirement score. in 60 seconds, you'll know where you stand. and together, we'll help you make decisions for your plan... to keep you on track. ♪ time to think of your future

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[howling continues] with us now from capitol hill, house majority whip, republican steve scalise of louisiana. it's great to have you here with us. >> good morning. good to be with ya. >> let's start with where you guys are as far as the whip count, approximately. would this bill pass if it went to the floor today? >> the bill is a few weeks from going to the floor. it goes to the budget committee next week. we continue to talk to members about things they would like to see that we are working with the white house on. at the same time, a strong vote out of the ways and means committee and the energy and commerce committee, which have all the factions of our conference. we have tuesday group members, rfc members and freedom caucus

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members and it passed unanimously with all republicans. the democrats voted against it. >> what about republicans, some of the more conservative members. we have had several of them on the show say thg is obamacare-lite. this is socialism-lite. how do you move them from where they are now to where you want them supporting the bill? >> very few members are talking like that. most of our members recognize this bill guts obamacare and starts it whole process of completely repealing and replacing obamacare. keep in mind, this gets rid of the mandate penalties. it starts to open a free market where consumers can buy their own health care insurance. that's at the heart of failures of obamacare. get rid of the mandates and taxes in obamacare. now we have a process where under secretary tom price, consumers can buy the health care plans thelt for their family, which is the health

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carefree.com people have been asking for for years. this has all the conservative reforms and things like medicaid reform, something we haven't seen in over 50 years. it's really going to help improve the most broken form of health care. >> congressman, i want to ask you two related questions, the first won't take long. do you agree with me, one of the things president obama did was not be fully honest about who the losers would be under the plan? people who would lose coverage? >> it was the broken promises, if you like what you have, costs won't go down. >> he knew, in advance, that some people would lose access and wasn't truthful about that, correct? i know you think that. i know you think that is correct. >> people wouldn't be able to buy what they wanted. >> you all are doing what the president did. you know full well that some people will benefit from the house plan, if it passed into law and some people won't. i'm wondering, wout it be a

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good dwroz tell th american people, certain people, old people, people in rural places, some of your constituents will be worst off under your plan? true, right? >> no, the losers are those who think government bureaucrats have to tell you what you can and can't buy. our bill is about freedom to choose what you want. their bill was about government bureaucrats telling you what you can and can't buy. >> not one consumer will be worse off under your plan? >> if somebody is in obamacare and they really like it, it is going to be gone after our transition period, but there will be better options for them. and there's going to be lower costs they will be able to pay for your family. >> house majority whip, steve scalise, thank you so much. we want to bring into the conversation, author and nbc news contributor, we want to

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play you something that democratic congressman tim ryan said on our show earlier this morning. take a look. >> there's so much opportunity out in the world now but democrats clearly aren't pushing that as much as i would like us to. that's the frustration. he co-opted a democratic message and part of it is the democrats fault. i'm more mad at the democrats than i am with the republicans because, you know, we dropped the ball on this stuff. we let our people down. >> so, looking ahead, what do we need to do? it's been a really, really rough and troubling time. a lot of it we do own. is that fair to say? >> what is true in that comment is, if you step back, i'm5 years old. in the course of my lifetime, we have an amazing e of innovation in this country. think of what exists, the phones on our table that did not exist at the time i was born. that has not translated into progress for half the country. we have new data showing 117

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million, the bottom half of americans got no raise, on average, since the '70s, as it has world got so amazing. innovation without progress. i think the problem is, donald trump, and that was z, by the way, the beneficiaries were the least vulnerable. donald trump tapped into that anger and instead of redirecting it back to the people who were extracting value from society redirected it to the most vol neshl people. i think the question behind what was said by the congressman is how do we get donald trump to be loyal to the people who voted for him to start with? people who like having health insurance over not having it. people who don't love the big wall street banks hesco siing up to. i was to make him loyal to his people, for starters. >> joe, where we stand now is a lot of trump supporters believe,

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even some of the things they are saying that are proven to be false. >> right. >> i say that with respect to them. what is happening and, how do -- how do we operate moving forward? >> first of all, listen, if you are a trump supporter, i certainly respect your decision to vote for donald trump. if you choose to be ignorant, willfully ignorant as donald trump lies every day about the lies, i don't cut you a break. >> they might take issue with that, joe. >> no they didn't. it's very simple. it's very simple. i don't question why people voted for donald trump. i understand why they didn't vote for hillary clinton. >> yeah. >> i'm just taking -- i'm checking what you just said there. if he's a liar on certain points, everybody has responsibility to call him out on lying. let's talk about the democratic party quickly, mika. the problem is, you are right,

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donald trump spoke to a certain group of people. the democratic party's problem was, they nominated, instead of bernie sanders, they nominated somebody that was more intertwined with wall street, probably, than any candidate in modern american history. anan, remember when the clinton's said they weren't that rich? because they were worst $100 million, $200 million, because they hung out with billionaires constantly. >> it doesn't buy you what it used to. >> of course. how does a democratic party in an age of disruption nominate that candidate instead of bernie sander snsz. >> that's a good point. i think democratic party has been split by people who tell the story of progress and tom friedman and people, as congressman ryan said we are the party of people who take a shower after work. we need to find a way to tell

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those stories together. this is an age of amazing, extraordinary. it has been brutal. someone who can tell that story cohesively is going to win that future. >> mark, real quick. >> how vulnerable do you think republicans are close to getting rid of the taxes? >> what's interesting is you have the arguments about social security every time you pass one of these things, there's a war. you can't go back. 30 years later, you try to take away the thing you were fighting against. there's no chance. my son is on obamacare. i'm on obamacare. my wife is. my 2-year-old son with a bad stomach virus is on obamacare. i'm grateful for obamacare. what you would like them to think about, can they answer your question and give us all and their own constituents their word that nobody is going to lose coverage. >> they can't. thank you very much.

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joe, final thoughts of the week. what is it day 40 -- go ahead. >> i just want to say that the systems thus far have been tested and so farther checking out pretty strongly. american court system, american journalism, the family new york times, more subscribers than ever before. "the washington post" doing before than ever before. this network not doing badly. cnn, fake news doing very well. the american people are rising up and they do want people to hold this man and this administration into account. that's something we can celebrate on friday. >> on monday, tomorrow is saturday, so who know what is could happen. >> oh, saturday, the tweets. tomorrow is tweet day. >> we'll get to it monday morning, first thing. that does it for us this morning. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now.